'Those pursuing the spiritual way must always keep the mind free from agitation in order that the intellect, as it discriminates among the thoughts that pass through the mind, may store in the treasuries of its memory those thoughts which are good and have been sent by God, while casting out those which are evil and come from the devil. When the sea is calm, fishermen can scan its depths and therefore hardly any creature moving in the water escapes their notice. But when the sea is disturbed by the winds, it hides beneath its turbid and agitated waves what it was happy to reveal when it was smiling and calm; and then the fishermen's skill and cunning prove vain. The same thing happens with the contemplative power of the intellect, especially when it is unjust anger which disturbs the depths of the soul.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

'Be gentle and kind with every one, and severe with yourself.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

'That you may have pleasure in everything, seek your own pleasure in nothing. That you may know everything, seek to know nothing. That you may possess all things, seek to possess nothing. That you may be everything, seek to be nothing. . . Desire to be empty and poor for Christ's sake. This state must be embraced with a perfect heart and you must really want it. If your heart is truly engaged in these efforts you shall speedily attain to great joy and consolation. Be continually careful and earnest in imitating Christ in everything, making your life conform to His.'

St. John of the Cross

'Let us so live that we may be admitted with profit to frequent and even daily Communion; in a word, let us perfect ourselves in order to receive Communion worthily and let us live with a constant view to Communion.'

St. Peter Julian Eymard

'What shall we then do, my brethren? Do you not see that God is angered? He can no longer bear with us. The Lord is angry. Do you not behold the scourges of God increasing every day? Our sins increase, says St. John Chrysostom, and our scourges increase likewise. God, my brethren, is wrathful: but with all his anger he has commanded me to say, what he formerly commanded to be said by the prophet Zachary: And thou shall say to them, Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Turn to Me says the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn to you says the Lord of Hosts. Sinners, says the Lord, you have turned your backs upon me, and therefore have constrained me to deprive you of my grace. Do not oblige me to drive you forever from my face, and punish you in hell without hope of pardon. Have done with it: abandon sin, be converted to me, and I promise to pardon you all your offences, and once more to embrace you as my children.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'Without temptation, no one can be saved. . . Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.'

St. Anthony of Egypt

'Since the Old Testament is a symbol of the practice of the virtues, it brings the body's activity into harmony with that of the intellect. Since the New Testament confers contemplation and spiritual knowledge, it illumines with divine intellections and gifts of grace the intellect that cleaves to it mystically. The Old Testament supplies the man of spiritual knowledge with the qualities of virtue; the New Testament endows the man practicing the virtues with the principles of true knowledge.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

If I may take a break for a moment to say so. . .

It is such a pleasure to get rid of things.

It is such a pleasure. It is so good, to have fewer things. To get rid of thing after thing, until one has as little as possible.

As much as is necessary. What is necessary also becomes less and less, the less one has.

It would be good to have nothing.

St. Anthony of Padua

A new book by Joseph A. Keller has been added to Saints' Books, called 'The Miracles of St. Anthony of Padua'. It's good reading, and has been especially edited and formatted for Saints' Books, to improve its readibility.

St. Anthony is well known for helping people everywhere to find what they have lost. . . In the book are recounted the original 'lost' miracle, and a miracle involving St. Anthony finding a truly precious belonging. . . 'faith' for a man who had lost it.

It is well worth reading and the kind of book that is a joy to have on Saints' Books, not only because of the contents -- it is also of a very small size, being in RTF form instead of PDF. The ideal books for download are in either a small sized, reformatted PDF, or RTF (rich text) format.

There are a number of very large sized PDF files in their original scans, that need to be reformatted so there is more space for more books.

This is the kind of help that is truly needed. If you have OCR software, and the time, think about it.

'Consider every day that you are then for the first time beginning; and always act with the same fervor as on the first day you began.'

St. Anthony of Padua

'Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions. But the apostles "spoke as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech." Happy the man whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself! We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith so our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.'

St. Anthony of Padua

The Horror... of Suffering

On Fr. Chad Ripperger, Ph.D.'s website are two audio talks on the subject of 'the Horror of Suffering'. (under #6 and #8)

My vague and unfortunate impression is that some readers will react to the title of the above thinking it will be a series on how terribly some people have suffered and how we should be horrified about it.

On the contrary, it is a truly Catholic talk, and the horror of suffering it describes is the internal defect in mankind since the fall, that makes our bodies and selves recoil in horror at the thought of suffering, and how this horror can imperil our eternal salvation and sanctity.

'The horror of suffering is a great impediment to sanctification.'

... We have over two thousand one hundred saints' quotes now on Saints' Quotes, with new additions and new saints such as St. Lawrence Justinian, St. Margaret of Cortona, and St. Gregory the Wonderworker.

I intend to, shortly, to publish an appeal for aid for the translation of saints' quotations to other languages. Have you ever considered how many languages people do not have many works of the saints' translated into? And how great a catechesis this could be? In fact the catechesis par excellence?

There is a great need for this to be done, and through donations and volunteer work it can be done. The rewards outstrip by far what comparatively small effort must be done.

So, even before the main appeal is published, consider if you are of a capacity to help.

The Saints' Prayers website will be receiving a major update soon, and its 'under construction' notification will disappear not long after that.

Returning to the 'horror of suffering', we are very much an effeminate society in which any suffering or natural evil, is seen as a moral evil. But all Christians have to embrace the cross. So we see already the direct conflict between the world and Christianity. And how easily this conflict can be one where the victory is the world, the flesh, and the devil, because all three will inspire us with a horror of suffering, and justify it with many arguments.

But Christ has told us that we must bear our cross. In fact we must embrace it. So we must pray to overcome the horror of suffering and instead have a thirst to bear these pains, knowing the great rewards that come from it, and the great necessity of it for the salvation of our own soul.

But how can one suffer properly? In such a way that it does not disorder one's interior life rather than improve it?

There are ways to approach suffering which are good and ones which are not. . .

So introspection and prayer, and taking on of suffering for the sake of God purely are the starting points for a proper approach to suffering.

The saints prefer suffering to pleasure. When our wills are too turned this way, then we can be the more hopeful of our home in Heaven.

As long as they are not we should tremble. . . how unlike Christ we are.

'It was my desire to be silent, and not to make a public display of the rustic rudeness of my tongue. For silence is a matter of great consequence when one's speech is mean. And to refrain from utterance is indeed an admirable thing, where there is lack of training; and verily he is the highest philosopher who knows how to cover his ignorance by abstinence from public address.'

St Gregory the Wonderworker

'Ask of God much suffering; in giving it to you, He will do you a great favor, for in this single gift are countless blessings.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

'Whether we will or no, we must suffer. There are some who suffer like the good thief, and others like the bad thief.'

'The saints suffered everything with joy, patience, and perseverance, because they loved. As for us, we suffer with anger, vexation, and weariness, because we do not love. If we loved God, we should love crosses, we should wish for them, we should take pleasure in them. . . We should be happy to be able to suffer for the love of Him who lovingly suffered for us.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'Brother, I am most grateful for the kindness you wished to do me. I appreciate it very highly; but, if God has given me the great sufferings I am enduring, why wish to soothe and lessen them by music? For the love of Our Lord, thank those gentlemen for the kindness they had wished to do me: I look upon it as having been done. Pay them, and send them away, for I wish to endure without any relief the gracious gifts which God sends me in order that, thanks to them, I may the better merit.'

St. John of the Cross

Today eighty four quotes from St. Theodore the Studite were added to the Saints' Quotes database.

Of a pleasant and joyful temperament throughout, his words should be an uplifting addition to the chorus of the Communion of saints.

Like St. Basil, one of my favorite quotes of his has to do with vegetables, but this like many of the other jewels have to be found on www.saintsquotes.net.

Here follow some quotes by St. Theodore.

'Oh, what unfathomable goodness! And oh, what an incomparable gift! How then can we fail to love him? How fail to cherish him? How fail to cling to him unceasingly? So that if we were not so disposed, heaven would instantly cry out against us, earth would groan, the very stones would condemn our utter insensibility.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'But what are the things he commanded? According to the old covenant, to summarise, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. According to the new, things that are higher and more precise. For Scripture says, it was said to those of old, You shall not murder ; whoever commits murder will be liable to judgement. But I say to you, everyone who is angry with their brother without good cause will be liable to judgement. Again, it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Again, it was said, You shall not commit perjury. But I say to you, you are not to swear at all. Again, it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate you enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you. Do you see how great the difference is between the two covenants? The one forbids the acts themselves, while the other the impulses from which the acts come, so that sin may not put down roots from there. If then we are found to be living in accordance with neither law nor Gospel, but rather, as one might say, with paganism, what shall we suffer on that day? Do not be led astray, Scripture says, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor Sodomites nor thieves nor extortioners nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'What are the fruits? Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-mastery [Gal. 5:22]. By these he is nourished, by these he is entertained. And blest the one who nourishes him, because he will be nourished by him with eternal good things; and blest the one who receives him as his guest, because he will be received by him as his guest in the kingdom of heaven! Indeed! So if someone is to receive a king as his house guest, he rejoices and is extremely glad; how much more then someone who receives the King of kings and Lord of lords as his house guest. That he is received is clear from what he himself has said: I and my Father will come and make our abode with him [John 14:23]. And again: One who has my commandments and keeps them, is the one who loves me; the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and manifest myself to him [John 14:21].'

St. Theodore the Studite

'Yes, I exhort, yes, I implore, my brothers, make my joy complete, as the Apostle again says, be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or vainglory; but in humility think of others as better than yourselves [Phil 2,2-3.]. Let us secure our senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, through them death enters. Let us bridle our mind not to be carried off to things it should not, not to step into the pitfall of unseemly things, not to picture to ourselves evil images nor to conceive sinful desires, from which we gain no profit or pleasure; on the contrary we are pained and crushed accomplishing nothing useful. There is one repose then and one pleasure, to cleanse the soul and to look towards dispassion. And let us not grow despondent when called to repose and the joy of dispassion, but let us hasten and press forward intently with diligence to right every defect; and God is our helper; for the Lord is near those who wait for him. And by living thus may we reach the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'And so, my brothers, let us rejoice and be glad as we repudiate every pleasure. All flesh is grass, and all human glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withered and the flower faded, but the work of virtue endures for ever.'

St. Theodore the Studite

Divine Praises & Prayers

The Divine Praises
Laudes Divinae
from the Raccolta (favored by Pope Pius VII and Pope Pius IX)

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, the most holy Mary.
Blessed he her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His holy angels and in His saints.

Benedictus Deus.
Benedictum Nomen Sanctum eius.
Benedictus Iesus Christus, verus Deus et verus homo.
Benedictum Nomen Iesu.
Benedictum Cor eius sacratissimum.
Benedictus Sanguis eius pretiosissimus.
Benedictus Iesus in sanctissimo altaris Sacramento.
Benedictus Sanctus Spiritus, Paraclitus.
Benedicta excelsa Mater Dei, Maria sanctissima.
Benedicta sancta eius et immaculata Conceptio.
Benedicta eius gloriosa Assumptio.
Benedictum nomen Mariae, Virginis et Matris.
Benedictus sanctus Ioseph, eius castissimus Sponsus.
Benedictus Deus in Angelis suis, et in Sanctis suis.

On the Loveliness of Mary
by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Raise your voices, vales and mountains,
Flowery meadows, streams and fountains,
Praise, oh, praise the loveliest Maiden
Ever the Creator made.
Murmuring brooks, your tribute bringing,
Little birds with joyful singing,
Come with mirthful praises laden
To your Queen be homage paid.

Say, sweet Virgin, we implore thee,
Say, what beauty God sheds o'er thee:
Praise and thanks to him be given,
Who in love created thee.
Like a sun with splendour glowing,
Gleams thy heart with love o'erflowing;
Like the moon in starry heaven,
Shines thy peerless purity.

Like the rose and lily blooming,
Sweetly heaven and earth perfuming,
Stainless, spotless, thou appearest

Queenly beauty graces thee.
But, to God, in whom thou livest,
Sweeter joy and praise thou givest,
When to him in beauty nearest,
Yet, so humble thou canst be.

Three Quotes of the Day

'The King of Heaven deigned to be born in a stable, because He came to destroy pride, the cause of man's ruin.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself.'

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

'True Christian prudence makes us submit our intellect to the maxims of the Gospel without fear of being deceived. It teaches us to judge things as Jesus Christ judged them, and to speak and act as He did.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Quote for the Day

'Above all we ought at least to know that there are three origins of our thoughts, i.e., from God, from the devil, and from ourselves. . . We ought then carefully to notice this threefold order, and with a wise discretion to analyse the thoughts which arise in our hearts, tracking out their origin and cause and author in the first instance, that we may be able to consider how we ought to yield ourselves to them. . .'

St. Moses the Black Hermit

Unread, written on a mountain top. The sky, and empty space.

Unread, written on a mountain top. The sky, and empty space.

Activity and passivity, the faculties and their reactions to influences in different states.

To share a breath of this rarified atmosphere.

"All manner of bodily thing is without thy soul and beneath it in nature, yea! the sun and the moon and all the stars, although they be above thy body, nevertheless yet they be beneath thy soul.

All angels and all souls, although they be confirmed and adorned with grace and with virtues, for the which they be above thee in cleanness, nevertheless, yet they be but even with thee in nature.

Within in thyself in nature be the powers of thy soul: the which be these three principal, Memory, Reason, and Will; and secondary, Imagination and Sensuality.

Above thyself in nature is no manner of thing but only God.

Evermore where thou findest written thyself in ghostliness, then it is understood thy soul, and not thy body. And then all after that thing is on the which the powers of thy soul work, thereafter shall the worthiness and the condition of thy work be deemed; whether it be beneath thee, within thee, or above thee."

- The Cloud

Quotations

We are currently at over 1200 quotes on Saints' Quotes and as time has allowed I have also been improving Saints' Prayers diversity of offerings, though I do not consider it time to take down the construction sign from the latter site as there are further prayers to add and other improvements.

There are also more surprises in store for the future.

Saints' Quotes should continue to grow quickly in its amount and variety of quotations, God willing. I said I would celebrate and give thanks upon reaching the 1000 mark, and the next time to rest and give a large thanksgiving will be the 10,000 mark.

I cannot be thankful enough for the privilege to work on this site. A full orchestra of angels singing whilst the light of Heaven shone over them would not suffice, I tremble to state.

I am looking to working on St. Ignatius of Antioch more thoroughly soon, and extracting portions of his works for the program.

I also have a book by St. Claude de la Colombiere and one by St. Peter Julian Eymard, but there are so many further too.

I pray that everyone who visits the site will benefit -- I know everyone who does can benefit, all it takes is a prayer and a bit of heart to take the words and put them into oneself and one's actions and life.

Then those who come will all participate in the blessed sunshine of the smile of God together.

The Holiness of the Bitter Sea

'As Jesus is called the King of sorrows and the King of martyrs, because He suffered during, His life more than all other martyrs; so also is Mary with reason called the Queen of martyrs, having merited this title by suffering the most cruel martyrdom possible after that of her Son. Hence, with reason, was she called by Richard of Saint Lawrence, "the Martyr of martyrs"; and of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said, "He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation;" that is to say, that that suffering itself, which exceeded the suffering of all the other martyrs united, was the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of martyrs. That Mary was a true martyr cannot be doubted, as Denis the Carthusian, Pelbart, Catharinus, and others prove; for it is an undoubted opinion that suffering sufficient to cause death is martyrdom, even though death does not ensue from it. Saint John the Evangelist is revered as a martyr, though he did not die in the caldron of boiling oil, but he came out more vigorous than he went in. Saint Thomas says, "that to have the glory of martyrdom, it is sufficient to exercise obedience in its highest degree, that is to say, to be obedient unto death." "Mary was a martyr," says Saint Bernard, "not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart." If her body was not wounded by the hand of the executioner, her blessed heart was transfixed by a sword of grief at the passion of her Son; grief which was sufficient to have caused her death, not once, but a thousand times. From this we shall see that Mary was not only a real martyr, but that her martyrdom surpassed all others; for it was longer than that of all others, and her whole life may be said to have been a prolonged death.

"The passion of Jesus," as Saint Bernard says, "commenced with His birth". So also did Mary, in all things like unto her Son, endure her martyrdom throughout her life. Amongst other significations of the name of Mary, as Blessed Albert the Great asserts, is that of "a bitter sea." Hence to her is applicable the text of Jeremias: "great as the sea is thy destruction." For as the sea is all bitter and salt, so also was the life of Mary always full of bitterness at the sight of the passion of the Redeemer, which was ever present to her mind. "There can be no doubt, that, enlightened by the Holy Ghost in a far higher degree than all the prophets, she, far better than they, understood the predictions recorded by them in the sacred Scriptures concerning the Messias." This is precisely what the angel revealed to Saint Bridget; and he also added, "that the Blessed Virgin, even before she became His Mother, knowing how much the Incarnate Word was to suffer for the salvation of men, and compassionating this innocent Saviour, who was to be so cruelly put to death for crimes not His own, even then began her great martyrdom."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

And Along the Way

'Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances. We will not obey the king's words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.'

1 Maccabees 2:21-22

Today the thought came to me that lack of Faith is something more significant than we normally consider, even in our lives as people of faith. If we had true faith in our immortality and Heavenly life, how much differently would we live today? Would our lives not be extraordinarily different?

At the same time I can see how much habit gets in the way of this, and so 'the world, the flesh, and the devil' the three archenemies of a holy soul. How does a person change from someone who is like other people in his satisfactions, to someone who isn't?

I have of course considered this before, but what is on my mind at the moment is basically 'what it takes to sustain a person' in doing things differently. A worldly person lives for his comforts, his comfortable house, his friends, his three meals a day, his entertainments and amusements. . . Now, how does a person who wishes to give up everything for God live, and still live happily?

There are rewards from God that enable this, and I have heard of them, and have a tiny knowledge of some of them -- but I would like to know more.

But perhaps that is too easy, perhaps that is not 'Faith', where one gives up and walks into a Vale of Tears, not expecting anything but whatever God should choose to give.

I simply do not know, neither being a saint, nor someone free from all these worldly cares. But I would like to know.

There too is the difference between knowing and living.

It will all be done in the Lord's time, I console myself with that thought.

A Merry Christmas to all!

'As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I!
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defiled souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.'

St. Robert Southwell, 'St. Peter's Complaint', 'The Burning Babe'

Fewer

I think there can be few more pleasant tasks than reading through one's library in the search of quotes by the saints.

The statue below it seems is somewhat delayed, as the place I ordered it from sent me a statue of the Infant of Prague, but not the statue depicted, instead an altogether inferior rendition of the subject. So I have since returned it and am waiting for the refund.

It may be a bit before I am able to purchase the one pictured below as the price was very, very reasonable, and I have not seen it available elsewhere so inexpensively. I also have to make sure that other sellers aren't repeating the mistake of the one I encountered.

There are a great deal of to put it kindly, not very well done, statues out there so -- until I find one of this type or on its level, I will have to wait.

Statue of the Infant of Prague

A new addition to my home. Due appreciation for this beautiful piece of Our Lord!

.. And now it's gone! They sent the wrong statue and I can't get the proper replacement.

Three Archangels, Michael of the Morning. . .

Today is the feast day of the three archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, & St. Raphael. Since I have a special devotion to the angels, this will be a multi-part entry.

For the beginning, I want to record an article I found yesterday. I was looking for something else, unrelated to angels, and then I found this. I took note of it, then checked the calendar, and the timing is perfect. Divine Providence. So here is something for you all, about angels and marines.

Perhaps most people reading this story are too young to remember the Korean War and might be curious about it. It is a war to be remembered, because the Koreans then weren't any better than they are now, if you wonder why there's antagonism, perhaps I shall write more later on about exactly what it is like to live in North Korea, and what happens there to the people because of the Communists.

The Story of Michael, The Tallest of All Marines

Below you will find a letter written by a young marine to his mother after being wounded on a Korean battlefield in 1950. The Navy chaplain, Father Walter Muddy, to whom the letter was shown, thoroughly checked the facts with the young Marine and the sergeant in whose patrol he had served. Having concluded that that the facts mentioned in the letter had actually occurred, Father Muddy made the letter public in 1951 before a gathering of 5,000 Marines at the Naval base in San Diego, California. Since then the letter has been published in newspapers and magazines, read on the radio and television, all over the world:

Dear Mom,

I wouldn't dare write this letter to anyone but you because no one else would believe it. Maybe even you will find it hard but I have got to tell somebody. First off, I am in a hospital. Now don't worry, ya hear me, don't worry. I was wounded but I am okay you understand. Okay. The doctor says that I will be up and around in a month.

But that is not what I want to tell you. Remember when I joined the Marines last year; remember when I left, how you told me to say a prayer to St. Michael every day. You really didn't have to tell me that. Ever since I can remember you always told me to pray to St. Michael the Archangel. You even named me after him. Well I always have.

When I got to Korea, I prayed even harder. Remember the prayer that you taught me?
"Michael, Michael of the morning fresh crop of Heaven adorning," you know the rest of it. Well I said it everyday. Sometimes when I was marching or sometimes resting. But always before I went to sleep. I even got some of the other fellas to say it.

Well, one day I was with an advance detail way up over the front lines. We were scouting for the Commies. I was plodding along in the bitter cold, my breath was like cigar smoke.
I thought I knew every guy in the patrol, when along side of me comes another Marine I never met before. He was bigger than any other Marine I'd ever seen. He must have been 6' 4" and built in proportion. It gave me a feeling of security to have such a body near.

Anyway, there we were trudging along. The rest of the patrol spread out. Just to start a conversation I said, "Cold ain't it." And then I laughed. Here I was with a good chance of getting killed any minute and I am talking about the weather. My companion seemed to understand. I heard him laugh softly.

I looked at him, "I have never seen you before, I thought I knew every man in the outfit."
"I just joined at the last minute", he replied. "The name is Michael."
"Is that so," I said surprised. "That is my name too."
"I know," he said and then went on, "Michael, Michael of the morning . . ."
I was too amazed to say anything for a minute. How did he know my name, and a prayer that you had taught me? Then I smiled to myself, every guy in the outfit knew about me. Hadn't I taught the prayer to anybody who would listen. Why now and then, they even referred to me as St. Michael.
Neither of us spoke for a time and then he broke the silence. "We are going to have some trouble up ahead."

He must have been in fine physical shape or he was breathing so lightly I couldn't see his breath. Mine poured out in great clouds. There was no smile on his face now. Trouble ahead, I thought to myself, well with the Commies all around us, that is no great revelation.
Snow began to fall in great thick globs. In a brief moment the whole countryside was blotted out. And I was marching in a white fog of wet sticky particles. My companion disappeared.
"Michael, " I shouted in sudden alarm.

I felt his hand on my arm, his voice was rich and strong, "This will stop shortly."
His prophecy proved to be correct. In a few minutes the snow stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The sun was a hard shining disc.

I looked back for the rest of the patrol, there was no one in sight. We lost them in that heavy fall of snow. I looked ahead as we came over a little rise. Mom, my heart stopped. There were seven of them. Seven Commies in their padded pants and jackets and their funny hats. Only there wasn't anything funny about them now. Seven rifles were aimed at us.
"Down Michael, "I screamed and hit the frozen earth.

I heard those rifles fire almost as one. I heard the bullets. There was Michael still standing. Mom, those guys couldn't have missed, not at that range. I expected to see him literally blown to bits. But there he stood, making no effort to fire himself. He was paralyzed with fear. It happens sometimes, Mom, even to the bravest. He was like a bird fascinated by a snake.

At least, that was what I thought then. I jumped up to pull him down and that was when I got mine. I felt a sudden flame in my chest. I often wondered what it felt like to be hit, now I know. I remember feeling strong arms about me, arms that laid me ever so gently on a pillow of snow. I opened my eyes, for one last look. I was dying. Maybe I was even dead, I remember thinking well, this is not so bad.

Maybe I was looking into the sun. Maybe I was in shock. But it seemed I saw Michael standing erect again only this time his face was shining with a terrible splendor. As I say, maybe it was the sun in my eyes, but he seemed to change as I watched him. He grew bigger, his arms stretched out wide, maybe it was the snow falling again, but there was a brightness around him like the wings of an Angel. In his hand was a sword. A sword that flashed with a million lights.

Well, that is the last thing I remember until the rest of the fellas came up and found me. I do not know how much time had passed. Now and then I had but a moment's rest from the pain and fever. I remember telling them of the enemy just ahead.
"Where is Michael," I asked.

I saw them look at one another. "Where's who?" asked one. "Michael, Michael that big Marine I was walking with just before the snow squall hit us."

"Kid," said the sergeant, "You weren't walking with anyone. I had my eyes on you the whole time. You were getting too far out. I was just going to call you in when you disappeared in the snow."

He looked at me, curiously. "How did you do it kid?"
"How'd I do what?" I asked half angry despite my wound. "This marine named Michael and I were just . . ."

"Son, " said the sergeant kindly, "I picked this outfit myself and there just ain't another Michael in it. You are the only Mike in it."

He paused for a minute, "Just how did you do it kid? We heard shots. There hasn't been a shot fired from your rifle. And there isn't a bit of lead in them seven bodies over the hill there."

I didn't say anything, what could I say. I could only look open-mouthed with amazement. It was then the sergeant spoke again, "Kid," he said gently, "everyone of those seven Commies was killed by a sword stroke."

That is all I can tell you Mom. As I say, it may have been the sun in my eyes, it may have been the cold or the pain. But that is what happened.

Love, Michael

PRAYER IN TIME OF WAR

O God, Who brings an end to wars and defeats the assailants of those who hope in Thee, help us when we turn to Thee, and grant us that the cruelty of our enemies may be crushed, and we, in turn, may praise Thee in unending Thanksgiving. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Role of St. Michael

St. Michael is the guardian and protector of God's people, the general of Heaven, Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, patron of all knights, and the angel who calls men from earth and brings' men's souls to judgement. He is also reknown for his care for the sick.

His name is the war cry of Heaven, St. Michael, in Hebrew means, 'Who is like God?' the answer -- to the pride of Lucifer.

Of all the saints, with the sole exception of Our Lady, he is the greatest enemy of Satan. At the end of the world, Michael will cast Satan into Hell forever. In the meantime, St. Michael is often invoked to defend Christians against the depredations of the devil and fallen angels, in the Prayer of St. Michael.

In the Holy Mass, St. Michael presides over the worship of adoration rendered to the Most High and offers to God the prayers of the faithful, represented by incense. He is an intercessor for mankind, the bearer of the Church's prayers before the throne of God, standing at the forefront of the innumerable hosts of angels in this service.

Quotes Regarding St. Michael:

"Behold I will send my Angel who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned, for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my name is in him. But if thou wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee." Exodus 23:22-23

"Deliver them from the lion's mouth, that hell engulf them not, that they fall not into darkness; but let Michael, the holy standard-bearer, bring them into the holy light."- From the Mass of the Departed

When I heard the sound of his voice, I fell face forward in a faint.

But then a hand touched me, raising me to my hands and knees. "Daniel, beloved," he said to me, "understand the words which I am speaking to you; stand up, for my mission now is to you."
When he said this to me, I stood up trembling. "Fear not, Daniel," he continued; "from the first day you made up your mind to acquire understanding and humble yourself before God, your prayer was heard.

Because of it I started out, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the days to come; for there is yet a vision concerning those days." While he was speaking thus to me, I fell forward and kept silent. Daniel 10:11-15

"Veneration of St. Michael is the greatest remedy against despising the rights of God, against insubordination, skepticism and infidelity." St. Francis de Sales

Prayer to St. Michael (short form)

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the power of God - thrust into hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to St. Michael (long form)

O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.

Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and Patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.
Let thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
As we have hoped in thee.
O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls.

Amen.

There is more to write on this subject, but I may continue later on tomorrow rather than finish today.

Thoughts on the Attack from Without & Within

When one tries to consider the primary ways in which the Church is being attacked today, one immediately feels a certain helplessness -- In what was is she not?

Yet it is perfectly true certain attacks are far and above where the battle needs to be met. These attacks, part of 'the spirit of the age' (no clean spirit), are obvious and seen within society as well as in the harm they have wrought within the Church.

It is to be noted that discipline has collapsed, and therefor observance even of serious moral law followed.

It is to be noted that men and women have exchanged roles, that men no longer know how to be men, nor women even know how to be women, and so neither is happy and license abounds in a free wheeling search for happiness that is hopeless.

It is to be noted that Communism, with its antecedent errors (atheism, feminism, class warfare, the end of individual property rights, false Utopian ideals) can be see to be at the root of most of the errors now spread throughout the Church. This of course, was predicted at Fatima, and revealed explicitly in the infiltration of the seminaries by Communist agents so often revealed through the openings of KGB files, and yet ignored with lack of comment from the Vatican.

The recent scandals regarding homosexuals preying upon young teenagers, in the seminaries can be partially traced to the Sexual Revolution, which marched hand in hand with Communism.

So the flaws all have their root in the spirit behind Communism, and its particular tendencies and immoralities. Every unclean spirit has its own particular sin, the sin which it denied God for the sake of. By understanding where the attack is, we can understand the flaws of the age, and our own flaws as well, should we have succumbed unknowingly (as a fish in water almost must) to these flaws.

Highlight

In a brief and surprising change to apologetics, which I have not practiced much in years, here is a homily I wish to highlight from, Sensus Traditionis, by Fr. Chad Ripperger, Ph.D., F.S.S.P.

This particular homily focuses on 'Once Saved, Always Saved', 'Accept Jesus Christ as Your Personal Savior', and 'Sola Fide - By Faith Alone'.

It describes how these errors have led many souls to Hell.

The Communism of today, more emphatically than similar movements in the past, conceals in itself a false messianic idea. A pseudo-ideal of justice, of equality and fraternity in labor impregnates all its doctrine and activity with a deceptive mysticism, which communicates a zealous and contagious enthusiasm to the multitudes entrapped by delusive promises. This is especially true in an age like ours, when unusual misery has resulted from the unequal distribution of the goods of this world. This pseudo-ideal is even boastfully advanced as if it were responsible for a certain economic progress. As a matter of fact, when such progress is at all real, its true causes are quite different, as for instance the intensification of industrialism in countries which were formerly almost without it, the exploitation of immense natural resources, and the use of the most brutal methods to insure the achievement of gigantic projects with a minimum of expense. - Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris

Three audio talks by from Audio Sancto on the subject of Communism ('The Errors of Russia') and their spread into American society, often under other pretended auspices, and their complete condemnation.

Cites various Popes, Communists, and other historical figures. Places this in the context of Our Lady of Fatima's prophecies regarding Communism and World War I & II.

Focuses on how Communism has been responsible for the spread of Feminism, the Sexual Revolution, Atheism, and the destruction of the family. These talks cannot of course cover the complete destruction of human life, theft of property, and tyrannical control and influence over children and adults through education and media that Communism and its associated Left wing movements have caused.

One

Two

Three

Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children in the year 1917 during World War I. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto. These appearances took place at Fátima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13th.

"Lúcia described seeing the lady as "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." According to Lúcia's account, the lady confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fátima. She exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most important, Lúcia said that the lady asked them to say the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace. Many young Portuguese men, including relatives of the visionaries, were then fighting in World War I.

Thousands of people flocked to Fátima and Aljustrel in the ensuing months, drawn by reports of visions and miracles. On August 13, 1917, the provincial administrator and anticlerical Freemason, Artur Santos (no relation), believing that the events were politically disruptive, intercepted and jailed the children before they could reach the Cova da Iria that day. Prisoners held with them in the provincial jail later testified that the children, while upset, were consoled by the inmates, and then led the inmates in praying the Rosary. The administrator interrogated the children and unsuccessfully attempted to get them to divulge the content of the secrets. In the process, he tried to convince the children that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil unless they confessed the secrets. The children, however, resisted. That month, instead of the usual apparition in the Cova da Iria on the 13th, the children reported that they saw the Lady on August 19 at nearby Valinhos.

As early as July the Lady had promised a miracle for the final apparition, on October 13, so that all would believe. What transpired became known as "Miracle of the Sun". A crowd believed to be approximately 70,000 in number, including newspaper reporters and photographers, gathered at the Cova da Iria. The incessant rain had finally ceased and a thin layer of clouds cloaked the silver disc of the sun such that it could be looked upon without hurting one’s eyes. Lúcia called out to the crowd to look at the sun. Sometime while Lucia was pointing towards the sun and seeing various religious figures in the sky, the sun appeared to change colors and rotate, like a fire wheel. For some, the sun appeared to fall from the sky before retreating, for others, it zig-zagged. The phenomenon was witnessed by most in the crowd as well as people many miles away.

Columnist Avelino de Almeida of O Século (Portugal's most influential newspaper, which was pro-government in policy and avowedly anti-clerical), reported the following "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws - the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people." Eye specialist Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem reported "The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceeding fast and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat". The special reporter for the October 17, 1917 edition of the Lisbon daily, O Dia, reported the following, "...the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds...The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands...people wept and prayed with uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they."

No movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time. According to contemporary reports from poet Afonso Lopes Vieira and schoolteacher Delfina Lopes with her students and other witnesses in the town of Alburita, the solar phenomena were visible from up to forty kilometers away.

- Wiki

The Vision of Hell

"Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror."

To Save Souls from Hell

"You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world."

Quotes from Our Lady of Fatima to Jacinta Marta

between Dec. 1919 – Feb. 1920.

"The sins of the world are very great ... If men only knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives.”

"You must pray much for sinners and priests and religious.”

"Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father gravely displeases Our Lord.”

"Fly from riches and luxury; love poverty and silence; have charity, even for bad people.”

"More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”

"Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.”

"The Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by the vow of chastity.”

"Woe to women who are not modest.”

"Confession is a sacrament of mercy and we must confess with joy and trust.”

"Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord.”

"Let men avoid greed, lies, envy, blasphemy, impurity.”

"Never speak ill of anyone. Never complain or murmur. Be very patient, for patience leads us to Heaven.”

"Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come.”

"If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to our Holy Religion, it will be blessed by God.”

"Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her."

Thought for the Day: The Last Judgement

Thoughts for the day.

During the Last Judgement. . .

All the theologians teach that all sins, forgiven and unforgiven, of both the just and the wicked, will be made manifest before all mankind. There will be no secret sins, not even of the saints.

This means that every single sin in your life will be made public, before all of mankind.

Perhaps today now, you will think a little more about not sinning and instead striving for virtue.

Why a public judgement? Because God has the right to have all crimes against Himself revealed, as well as His justice and mercy, the manner and fairness with which he delt with each and every man -- all will reveal the more His glory.

A man who has repented, changed and would no longer dream of committing a sin, has little to fear from revelations of the past -- compared to a person unforgiven, unrepetant, still attached to sin. This is one of the differences in repentance and holiness compared to the sinner still attached to sin and every base desire. A man who is forgiven and changed, can look back with happy tears, a man who is not -- can only be ashamed and wish for darkness that no longer exists nor ever will.

And so, men either ascend into the clear light of Heaven, or fall into the pit of Hell, fleeing from God as far as they can, yet justice cannot ultimately be escaped. There is Heaven, there is Hell, and there is judgement.

Today is the day to change, for tomorrow may be too late.

Texts on Discrimination in Respect to Passions

1. Of the demons opposing us in the practice of the ascetic life, there are three groups who fight in the front line: those entrusted with the appetites of gluttony, those who suggest avaricious thoughts, and those who incite us to seek the esteem of men. All the other demons follow behind and in their turn attack those already wounded by the first three groups. For one does not fall into the power of the demon of unchastity, unless one has first fallen because of gluttony; nor is one's anger aroused unless one is fighting for food or material possessions or the esteem of men. And one does not escape the demon of dejection, unless one no longer experiences suffering when deprived of these things. Nor will one escape pride, the first offspring of the devil, unless one has banished avarice, the root of all evil, since poverty makes a man humble, according to Solomon (cf. Prov. 10:4. LXX). In short, no one can fall into the power of any demon, unless he has been wounded by those of the front line. That is why the devil suggested these three thoughts to the Savior: first he exhorted Him to turn stones into bread; then he promised Him the whole world, if Christ would fall down and worship him; and thirdly he said that, if our Lord would listen to him, He would be glorified and suffer nothing in falling from the pinnacle of the temple. But our Lord, having shown Himself superior to these temptations, com­manded the devil to 'get behind Him'. In this way He teaches us that it is not possible to drive away the devil, unless we scornfully reject these three thoughts (cf. Matt. 4:1-10).

2. All thoughts inspired by the demons produce within us conceptions of sensory objects; and in this way the intellect, with such conceptions imprinted on it, bears the forms of these objects within itself. So, by recognizing the object presented to it, the intellect knows which demon is approaching. For example, if the face of a person who has done me harm or insulted me appears in my mind, I recognize the demon of rancor approaching. If there is a suggestion of material things or of esteem, again it will be clear which demon is troubling me. In the same way with other thoughts, we can infer from the object appearing in the mind which demon is close at hand, suggesting that object to us. I do not say that all thoughts of such things come from the demons; for when the intellect is activated by man it is its nature to bring forth the images of past events. But all thoughts producing anger or desire in a way that is contrary to nature are caused by demons. For through de­monic agitation the intellect mentally commits adultery and becomes incensed. Thus it cannot receive the vision of God, who sets us in order; for the divine splendor only appears to the intellect during prayer, when the intellect is free from conceptions of sensory objects.

3. Man cannot drive away impassioned thoughts unless he watches over his desire and incensive power. He destroys desire through fasting, vigils and sleeping on the ground, and he tames his incensive power through long-suffering, forbearance, forgiveness and acts of compassion. For with these two passions are connected almost all the demonic thoughts which lead the intellect to disaster and perdition. It is impossible to overcome these passions unless we can rise above attachment to food and possessions, to self-esteem and even to our very body, because it is through the body that the demons often attempt to attack us. It is essential, then, to imitate people who are in danger at sea and throw things overboard because of the violence of the winds and the threatening waves. But here we must be very careful in case we cast things overboard just to be seen doing so by men. For then we shall get the reward we want; but we shall suffer another shipwreck, worse than the first, blown off our course by the contrary wind of the demon of self-esteem. That is why our Lord, instructing the intellect, our helmsman, says in the Gospels: 'Take heed that you do not give alms in front of others, to be seen by them; for unless you take heed, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.' Again, He says: 'When you pray, you must not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in synagogues and at street-corners, so as to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they get the reward they want. . . More­over when you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Truly I say to you, they get the reward they want' (cf. Matt. 6: 1-18). Observe how the Physician of souls here corrects our incensive power through acts of compassion, purifies the intellect through prayer, and through fasting withers desire. By means of these virtues the new Adam is formed, made again according to the image of his Creator - an Adam in whom, thanks to dispassion, there is 'neither male nor female' and, thanks to singleness of faith, there is 'neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all' (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3: 10:11).

Evagrios the Solitary, Text on Discrimination in Respect of Passions & Thoughts

Just as the eye cannot see a grain of wheat unless the eyelids are open, so the practical intellect cannot see its own nature unless stripped of the attachment to sensible things that obscures its vision.

When bitten by some wild animal, a deer runs swiftly to earthly springs of water; a soul wounded by the most tender arrow of prayer hastens towards the light of incorporeal realities.

The inner principles of corporeal realities are concealed like bones within objects apprehended by the senses: no one who has not transcended attachment to sensible things can see them.

When the stage of ascetic practice has been fulfilled, spiritual visions flood the intellect like the sun's rays coming over the horizon; even though they are native to it, and embrace it because of its purity, they appear to come from outside.

Ilias the Presbyter

If you give in and are defeated when a swarm of evil thoughts rises up against you in your mind, you should know that for a time you have been cut off from the grace of God, and by His just sentence abandoned to your fate. Make every effort, then, never through your own negligence to be deprived of grace, even for a single moment. If you manage to avoid falling, if you succeed in leaping over the barrier formed by impassioned thoughts, and if you overcome the unclean provocations that the enemy in his ingenuity continually suggests to you, do not ignore the gift conferred on you from above. As the Apostle says, 'It was not I but the grace of God which was with me' (1Cor. 15:10) that won this victory, raising me above the impure thoughts that assailed me. It was His grace that 'delivered me from the wicked man' (cf. Ps. 18:48. LXX), that is, from the devil and from the 'old man' within me (cf. Rom. 6:6). Lifted by the wings of the Spirit and freed from the weight of my body, I was able to soar above the predatory demons, who catch man's intellect with the bird-lime of sensual indulgence, tempting it in a forcible and violent manner. It was God who brought me out from the land of Egypt, that is, from the soul-destructiveness of the world; it was God who fought on my behalf and with His unseen hand put Amalek to flight (cf. Exod. 17:8-16), thus giving me cause to hope that He will also drive out the other tribes of impure passions before me. He is our God, and will give us both 'wisdom and power' (Dan. 2:23); for some have received wisdom but not the power of the Spirit to defeat their enemies. He will 'lift up your head above your enemies' (cf. Ps. 27:6);

St. John of Karpathos

Seeing, therefore, that we are the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things which pertain to holiness, avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, seeking after change, all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and execrable pride. "For God," saith [the Scripture], "resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. Let us clothe ourselves with concord and humility, ever exercising self-control, standing far off from all whispering and evil-speaking, being justified by our works, and not our words. For [the Scripture] saith, "He that speaketh much, shall also hear much in answer. And does he that is ready in speech deem himself righteous? Blessed is he that is born of woman, who liveth but a short time: be not given to much speaking." Let our praise be in God, and not of ourselves; for God hateth those that commend themselves. Let testimony to our good deeds be borne by others, as it was in the case of our righteous forefathers.

St. Clement, to the Corinthians

For our Lord was made man; He was condemned that He might impart compassion; He was bound that He might set free; He was apprehended that He might liberate; He suffered that He might heal our sufferings; He died to restore life to us; He was buried to raise us up. For when our Lord suffered, His humanity suffered, that which He had like unto man; and He dissolves the sufferings of him who is His like, and by dying He hath destroyed death. It was for this cause that He came down upon earth, that by pursuing death He might kill the rebel that slew men. For one underwent the judgment, and myriads were set free; one was buried, and myriads rose again. He is the Mediator between God and man; He is the resurrection and the salvation of all; He is the Guide of the erring, the Shepherd of men who have been set free, the life of the dead, the charioteer of the cherubim, the standard-bearer of the angels, and the King of kings, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

... And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit, as the divine Scriptures teach us; who hath inaugurated both the holy men of the Old Testament, and the divine teachers of that which is called the New. And besides, also, one only Catholic and Apostolic Church, which can never be destroyed, though all the world should seek to make war with it; but it is victorious over every most impious revolt of the heretics who rise up against it. For her Goodman hath confirmed our minds by saying, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." After this we know of the resurrection of the dead, the first-fruits of which was our Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed, and not in appearance merely, carried a body, of Mary Mother of God, who in the end of the world came to the human race to put away sin, was crucified and died, and yet did He not thus perceive any detriment to His divinity, being raised from the dead, taken up into heaven, seated at the right hand of majesty.

These things in part have I written in this epistle, thinking it burdensome to write out each accurately, even as I said before, because they escape not your religious diligence. Thus do we teach, thus do we preach. These are the apostolic doctrines of the Church, for which also we die, esteeming those but little who would compel us to forswear them, even if they would force us by tortures, and not casting away our hope in them.

St. Alexander of Alexandria, d. 326 A.D.

Welcome to Max's World

http://www.newsweek.com/id/137517/page/1

I want you to read this story. Then come back here and read the rest of this entry.

I am not making a diagnosis.

I am simply going to say, that this story is but one of very many similar stories, and that the spiritual reality is that angels and devils do exist and they interact every single day with mankind.

That men no longer understand how they interact, or that they do interact is the problem of these times, but not the judgement of the vast majority of human existence which understands their influence and place in the world.

The current time's lack of understanding is only a relatively mometary glitch, so to speak in the understanding of mankind as to the true nature of reality which is both spiritual and material.

I heard this story second hand that once, when Fr. Fulton Sheen went to visit a mental hospital, he wishing to test how many of the patients there were plagued by spiritual problems rather than solely mental problems, he, without making any outward signs began saying the exorcism prayers mentally to himself.

Immediately, all around him, chaos erupted as the patients everywhere starting acting up and making noise.

So, I wish for people who do not understand reality because they have been raised in this culture that denies it, that there is more to your very own existence than your own self and that throughout your life you have not been as alone as you thought you have been.

In fact many of your predispositions and incorrect snap judgements come into being for reasons which are not what you think they are.

And so too your inspirations.

God bless you and good morning. Christ be with you. Deo gratias.

SANCTUS, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.

Readings for Today from the Breviary

Psalm 49 (50)
To the sinner, God has said this:

Why do you recite my statutes?
Why do you dare to speak my covenant?
For you hate what I teach you,
and reject what I tell you.

The moment you saw a thief, you joined him;
you threw in your lot with adulterers.
You spoke evil with your mouth,
and your tongue made plans to deceive.
Solemnly seated, you denounced your own brother;
you poured forth hatred against your own mother’s son.

All this you did, and I was silent;
so you thought that I was just like you.
But I will reprove you –
I will confront you with all you have done.

Understand this, you who forget God;
lest I tear you apart, with no-one there to save you.
Whoever offers up a sacrifice of praise gives me true honour;
whoever follows a sinless path in life will be shown the salvation of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

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Reading Ecclesiastes 2:1 - 26

I thought to myself, ‘Very well, I will try pleasure and see what enjoyment has to offer.’ And there it was: vanity again! This laughter, I reflected, is a madness, this pleasure no use at all. I resolved to have my body cheered with wine, my heart still devoted to wisdom; I resolved to embrace folly to see what made mankind happy, and what men do under heaven in the few days they have to live.
My reflections then turned to wisdom, stupidity, folly. For instance, what can the successor of a king do? What has been done already. More is to be had from wisdom than from folly, as from light than from darkness; this, of course, I see:

The wise man sees ahead,
the fool walks in the dark.

No doubt! But I know, too, that one fate awaits them both. ‘The fool’s fate’ I thought to myself ‘will be my fate too. Of what use my wisdom, then? This, too,’ I thought ‘is vanity.’ Since there is no lasting memory for wise man or for fool, and in the days to come both will be forgotten; wise man, alas, no less than fool must die. Life I have come to hate, for what is done under the sun disgusts me, since all is vanity and chasing of the wind. All I have toiled for and now bequeath to my successor I have come to hate; who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all the work into which I have put my efforts and wisdom under the sun. That, too, is vanity.

And hence I have come to despair of all the efforts I have expended under the sun. For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun? What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.

There is no happiness for man but to eat and drink and to be content with his work. This, too, I see as something from God’s hand, since plenty and penury both come from God; wisdom, knowledge, joy, he gives to the man who pleases him; on the sinner lays the task of gathering and storing up for another who is pleasing to God. This, too, is vanity and chasing of the wind.

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Reading A sermon on Ecclesiastes by St Gregory of Nyssa

Christ is our head, and the wise man keeps his eyes upon him.

We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil. Saint Paul himself and all who have reached the same heights of sanctity had their eyes fixed on Christ, and so have all who live and move and have their being in him.

As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.

The wise man, then, turns his eyes toward the One who is his head, but the fool gropes in darkness. No one who puts his lamp under a bed instead of on a lamp-stand will receive any light from it. People are often considered blind and useless when they make the supreme Good their aim and give themselves up to the contemplation of God, but Paul made a boast of this and proclaimed himself a fool for Christ’s sake. The reason he said, We are fools for Christ’s sake was that his mind was free from all earthly preoccupations. It was as though he said, “We are blind to the life here below because our eyes are raised toward the One who is our head”.

And so, without board or lodging, he travelled from place to place, destitute, naked, exhausted by hunger and thirst. When men saw him in captivity, flogged, shipwrecked, led about in chains, they could scarcely help thinking him a pitiable sight. Nevertheless, even while he suffered all this at the hands of men, he always looked toward the One who is his head and he asked: What can separate us from the love of Christ, which is in Jesus? Can affliction or distress? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger or death? In other words, “What can force me to take my eyes from him who is my head and to turn them toward things that are contemptible?”

He bids us follow his example: Seek the things that are above, he says, which is only another way of saying: “Keep your eyes on Christ”.

... unless otherwise noted the readings are taken from Universalis.

House of Books

One of the things I do regularly is scour the Internet for new saint's books. Perhaps an individual will have uploaded one, perhaps Google Books will have scanned one from its libraries, or perhaps a bookstore will have a volume in it I have not seen before.

I urge anyone interested in their own lives, God, anything beyond nothing -- go do the same.

In the interests of helping others and saving time I've decided to try to make available some of the books I have found through this blog, both with links to their sites, bookstores, and by making some available for download directly.

This is a project that has been on my mind for awhile, and it is one that does not have an ending. But it does have a begininning, and here it is.

For a beginning I will simply note the best Bible in modern English currently available is the Jerusalem Bible, and one of the many places one can get it through is Amazon.com.

I do not say the commentary is perfect, but the translation is splendidly full of Catholic spirituality as is suitable to scripture.

Those who know their bibles know that 'new' editions can be completely different, and it is the same with this one, so to be clear I am recommending the original above all others.

One does not have to, and perhaps should not have a single Bible translation. This however, is a first to begin with and one to rely on for spiritual reading.